Stable isotope studies of the water cycle and terrestrial environments: introduction

Abstract

AbstractThe volume is devoted to Earth Surface environmental reconstructions and environmental changes, which may be deciphered and modeled using stable isotopes along with mineralogical/chemical, sedimentological, palaeontological/biological and climatological methodologies. The book is divided into two sections, both of them using stable isotopes analysis (δD, δ18O, δ13C, δ15N, δ34S, clumped isotopes D47) in various samples and phases as main research tools. The first section is devoted to studies focusing on the distribution of isotopes in precipitations, groundwaters, lakes, rivers, springs, mine waters and their relationship with terrestrial environments at regional to continental scale. In connection, the second section includes case studies from a range of continental settings, investigating cave deposits (stalagmites, bat guano), animal skeletons (dinosaurs, alligators, turtles, bivalves), present and past soils (palaeosols), limestones. The sections focus on the interaction between the surficial water cycle and underground water storage with deposits acting as archives of short- to long-term climatic and environmental changes. Examples from the Early Cretaceous to present time come from Europe, Asia, Africa and America.